Picture Perfect

 

Kinley's face said it all. 

She and I had a mighty good showing in open class photography at the Stafford County Fair.

This was Kinley's first year in 4-H photography. We worked together on it all year, and she also took several photos on her own. While the girls were here, we chose and mounted her eight 4-H entries for the Shawnee County Fair. (That was the maximum number allowed at her fair.) 

Kinley and her 4-H entries for the Shawnee County Fair

 

But, once those decisions were made, we still had "leftover" photos. Since the girls were going to be here for the Stafford County Fair, Kinley entered nine of her photos in open class.

Her colored pencil photo won Reserve Grand Champion overall - chosen from among all the youth, teen and adult entries. My photo of aspens, taken as we traveled toward the north rim of the Grand Canyon last fall, was Grand Champion overall.

"How would you have felt if I'd gotten the first place, Grandma?" Kinley asked as we stood in front of the exhibit.

"I would have been just as happy," I told her. And I meant every word. What fun it was to help Kinley with photography, a hobby I love to do!

In all, she got seven blues and two reds in the youth division at the Stafford County Fair. She got a ribbon on every entry, so she did better than I did. I had eight blues, four reds and two whites, with six of my entries not receiving ribbons.

She entered a similar photo in the 4-H division of the Shawnee County Fair. (It was just cropped off center for the classic Rule of Thirds photo principle.) And she got overall Reserve Grand Champion at that fair, too! (Grandma and Kinley were pretty excited yet again!)

And another of her 4-H photos - featuring Crayons - got reserve champion in the 0-3 years of experience color division. In all, she only got one red out of her eight photos entered in her first 4-H competition. All the rest were blue or purple.

We told Brooke that part of Kinley's success was due to her fantastic action model. (I also had some entries featuring Brooke on the soccer field.)

 

I think this was the first time ever that I didn't enter any photos in the "Agriculture" category. That's not to say I never will. We still own our ground, and agriculture is all around us. But the wheat wasn't pretty this year, so it didn't get paparazzi sessions like it usually does. 

I'd never had so many travel photos entered in one fair. 

From Zion National Park, Blue ribbon, Scenic landscape

From Arches National Park, blue ribbon, selfie

 

From Grand Canyon North Rim, black and white, blue, Human Interest

From Kentucky Horse Park, Lexington, black and white, Landscape

From Johnny Morris' Wonders of Wildlife Museum & Aquarium, Springfield, MO, jellyfish, color Miscellaneous

But I also had some blues in my own backyard ... literally.

Backyard nest, Blue, black and white, Nature

And even from my bathroom.

View from my bathroom window on a frosty morning, blue, black and white, miscellaneous

I was also pleased to place in the Stafford County Economic Development photo contest. The photo I took of story hour at the Nora Larabee Memorial Library won the Places category and a couple of others got honorable mention.

I also got a blue ribbon on the retirement book I gave to Randy last Christmas.

All in all, it was a great fair season!

It may be hard to live up to the "photo finishes" at next year's fairs. As I reminded Kinley, judging is one person's opinion on one day. Different judge, different day, different results. But we'll happily celebrate the results this year. 

More from the Shawnee County Fair in the next blog post.

The Party Went Swimmingly!

Hello! It's Kinley again. It's been awhile since Grandma let me take over the blog. On important occasions, you should hear from the actual birthday girl, don't you think? My Grandma says I should be a natural with the whole reporting thing since I love to ask questions.

I have been thinking about my 5th birthday for months. As my friends started having parties at fun places like the Discovery Center, I started asking my Mom and Dad about my party. When I was a little girl, I always had my birthday parties at my house. But I really wanted a party at some fun location.

Every time I'd ask, my Mommy would say, "We'll see." Sometimes, that means "No way!" But this time, I guess it really did mean "We'll see." I got to have my party at a gymnastics place.

I was a big fan of the 2016 Summer Olympics, and I especially liked watching those gymnastics girls. Brooke and I had our own gymnastics events right in our living room. This fall, instead of taking dance lessons again, I got to start a tumbling class. I really wanted to learn to do a cartwheel. It's not that easy, but I keep trying.

On Saturday morning, I woke up early and immediately put on my gymnastics outfit. My parents thought 6 AM was a little early to get ready for a 3:30 PM party. But I got to wear it anyway, even though they made me put clothes over it so I wouldn't get cold. 

 

It seemed like it took FOREVER to get here. Grandma read me some books. We played with some of my new Christmas toys and played a couple of games of Spot It, which is a really fun game, if you're looking for one. While Brooke took a nap, I spent a little time painting a rainbow, which helped take my mind off the clock for a little while.

Finally, it was time. I was SO EXCITED!

Even though I was having my party at a gymnastics center, I still wanted to have a dolphin party. I guess I didn't share that thought with Mommy until the last minute. Mommy says thank goodness for Amazon Prime. She got me this cool dolphin balloon, and some dolphin napkins and plates. The gymnastics place provided the tablecloth. I didn't want to hurt their feelings, so I didn't point out to them that those sea creatures were sharks, not dolphins. But that was OK.

At lunch, my Mommy and Daddy talked about being a good party host. Not everyone at my party would know each other. So I needed to make sure everyone felt included. I was supposed to greet everyone as they came in and introduce them to other people.

I also needed to remember to say thank you for my gifts. If I opened something I already had, I was supposed to smile and say thank you. That is just good manners. I tried really hard to remember all that. It's a lot of pressure to be the hostess with the mostest, let me tell you!

Before we could get started having fun, we had to hear about all the rules. There were an awful lot of them, and I have to confess that it was a little too much to absorb. But I'd say the most important one was no screaming unless you're hurt. If you were hurt, you were supposed to scream as loud as you could. Thankfully, nobody had to do that!

 

Finally, we got to play on all the equipment. That balance beam is a whole lot harder than it looks on TV! With Mommy holding my hand, I did it, though!

It was easier just jumping into the foam pits.

Brooke liked it, too. She's only 2, so I thought she might be scared. But she wasn't.

I was so lucky. Most of my friends from my neighborhood were able to come.

I also had my cousins and a bunch of my friends from preschool. My baby cousins were there, too, but they missed the picture. Everybody seemed to get along just fine, so I guess the party went swimmingly well. (Get it! My dolphin party went swimmingly!)

Afterwards, we went to Glory Days Pizza for a family supper. I got to open presents from my grandparents there, including a horse trailer and cowgirl on horseback. I think Grandma Kim & Grandpa Randy are trying to turn me into a farmer. We'll see! I also got some dolphin things from them, so maybe I'll be a marine biologist. I guess I don't have to commit to a career path at age 5.

You remember that I told you I like to ask questions. Grandma Christy and Grandpa Alan gave me a book that had belonged to my daddy when he was a little boy (plus some other cool stuff, too.) The book had answers to lots and lots of questions that kids ask. Grandma Christy says this book came out before Google. My Mommy and Daddy should keep it handy, I think!

***

Grandma Kim flashback moment: Kinley Marie Ladd arrived in time for our belated family Christmas celebration of 2011. Though she wasn't due until January 12, 2012, she became a 5-pound, 15-ounce party crasher. She was about the size of her Christmas stocking. I can't believe she'll be going to kindergarten next fall. How time flies!

Brooke's Big Day

The theme for Brooke's first birthday party revolved around The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle. And while the past 12 months have seemed more like a speeding train than a crawl to me, the theme seems to fit. The evolution from tiny baby to toddler is as startling as the evolution of caterpillar to beautiful butterfly.

Brooke Jaylin Ladd arrived at 6:57 AM, Thursday, September 4, 2014. She weighed 7 pounds, 6 ounces, and was 20 inches long. These days, she walks - or runs - everywhere and seems destined to follow her Mommy's footsteps as the designated family climber. (Jill caught her trying to scale the pantry shelves within the past couple of weeks.)  

We got a review of the monthly snapshots via our own hungry caterpillar, and her cake also featured the theme. 

Kinley was rather delicate with her "smash" cake on her first birthday. Brooke was anything but delicate, necessitating a bath after her enthusiastic eating spree. I guess she was taking the Very Hungry Caterpillar theme to heart. She was very hungry for cake!

The family portrait we took before church may have had the same "color story" as one we took right after she came home from the hospital ...

September 2014

but adding another wiggly girl into the mix made for more outtakes than the one from a year ago.

September 2015

It was a busy and meaningful day for Miss Brooke and family. Sunday was also Brooke's baptism day at Susanna Wesley United Methodist Church in Topeka.

 

I know that not every denomination believes in infant baptism. But it is part of our United Methodist tradition.
In December 1985, Jill was baptized at the Stafford United Methodist Church.
And just like with Brooke, grandparents were there to witness the sacrament and stand alongside as the parents continued a heritage of faith. (One of my regrets about Sunday was not getting photos of Brooke with both sets of grandparents and the five great-grandparents. But there wasn't really time at the church before the next service began. We should have done it at home, but we didn't.)

During an infant baptism, the parents confess their belief in Jesus Christ as their Savior and commit to nurture their child by teaching and example:

... "that the child may be guided to accept God's grace for themselves, to profess their faith openly and to lead a Christian life."

But it's more than just Jill and Eric and their families. The church family at Susanna Wesley also commits to this child. Before the service, I had watched families with young children barrel headlong into the sanctuary. I watched older congregants make their way slowly down the aisles, pausing to say hello.

During the baptism sacrament, the congregation says together:

With God's help we will proclaim the good news and live according to the example of Christ. We will surround Brooke with a community of love and forgiveness, that she may grow in her trust of God and be found faithful in her service to others. We will pray for her that she may be a true disciple who walks in the way that leads to Life.

That is a powerful legacy of faith. And as Brooke's church family and birth family gathered for her baptism and birthday, I was thankful for the legacy of it all. Second year ... here we come!

A little cousin love!

The Many Faces of Kinley

Photo by Jill: I wish I could say I took this one. I love it.

Knowledgeable (for 3!)
Imaginative
Nurturing
Loving
Expressive
Y(WHY? It may be a stretch, but "WHY" fits better than any  "Y" word I could come up with!)

It was Brooke's turn in the spotlight yesterday, so today, it's Kinley. Since she's 3, I can still get away with it. In 10 years, I'm sure there will be a ban to rival Homeland Security when it comes to disclosing any information about our oldest granddaughter.

We had the pleasure of taking Kinley to her first musical during our visit last weekend. We went to Aladdin Junior, which featured a cast of children and youth. With a run-time of only 75 minutes, it was the perfect length for the short set.

We are at the cheesy grin stage!

Kinley loves singing and dancing and Disney princesses, so we thought it was the perfect show. She is not too fond of scary things, however, so Jafar - or The Mean Guy, as Kinley deemed him - was not a hit with our little theater go-er. Thankfully, the genie was a precocious little actress who stole the show. She was sassy - not scary (though her entrance with smoke and flashing lights had Kinley covering her eyes again).

Afterwards, she was content to watch Jasmine sign autographs and pose for photos from afar. That's as close as she wanted to get.

Saturday morning, we went to the Farmer's Market near the Kansas Capitol building.

She was quite the helper (after Grandma supplied a little energy with a freshly-squeezed lemonade.)

 

Since Brooke didn't want to ride in the stroller, it turned out to be a good produce cart.

Grandma bought a cookie decorating kit from one of the market exhibitors, so we frosted and "sprinkled" the confections while Brooke had a nap.

Kinley might have nibbled on a little frosting (if you look closely, you'll see the evidence.) She's a girl after my own heart when it comes to frosting.

Kinley loves to draw and color. She also loves to have Grandma read to her (but we didn't get any photos of that). She says that, "Grandma will read the songbooks, too." She has an Annie book where we can bust out our "Tomorrow" and "Maybe" renditions.

Photo by Jill

On Monday, she was so excited to move into her new preschool room at school. She is growing up quickly. I was glad her Daddy sent me a photo so I could see, too!